I should really go to bed...

People who get into journalism to change the world are wasting their time.

It's an opportunists stance, and that's great, but I'm going to go ahead and take a dump on your parade. The wide-eyed ideals of young kids, the few that remain, who grasp onto a notion that simply graduating with a degree in communications for journalism will equal a great job where their voice will be heard is fleeting. Am I speaking from experience? No. But how often do I do that? This is blog, and I didn't do any independent research for your satisfaction. Sorry.

From what I've seen so far, a vast majority of aspiring kids looking to write in public for pay generally end up covering a local crime beat or high school sports. That's fine, and I'd be cool with that some day, but the idea you shouldn't write just because you won't be David Halberstam, Hunter S. Thompson or some other Pulitzer Prize winning journalist is lame. The world needs plenty of people who will be mediocre journalists and write menial pieces for suburban newspapers. Hell, I'll write the livestock report for Lone Jack, Missouri if my wife would let me get away with it. Pay wise anyway.

But being good enough doesn't seem to be good enough for most people my age or younger. Everyone wants to be the Peyton Manning of their chosen profession. Guess what? Unless you're extremely gifted and/or lucky, it ain't gonna happen. You can stir shit up, but more than likely you'll just end up hated, mocked or fired. Or if you're fortunate, all three.

The point is, kids who realize they aren't the next Diane Sawyer just give up and work in HR for Hardee's or something. That's great, and I'm sure it pays the bills, but it's not what you really want to do or have a passion for. Who the fuck grows up and says "Someday I will process benefits better than anyone in my division." ??

Once upon a time I thought coming out of high school it would be a good idea to get a computer science degree instead of becoming a journalist for the money. I was, in a word, retarded. Now I'm 29 and taking classes with kids who don't remember MTV when it was cool or what tight rolled pants are. I mean, what the fuck am I supposed to talk to everyone about? You started playing video games on a Playstation? I once spent 20 hours trying to cheat the blinking blue screen on my Nintendo to play Kung Fu!

So really examining what your expectations are in life is paramount, especially for all the Dick and Janes who want to be writers. Maybe you should take a weekend and recalibrate what you really feel like you deserve out of life, and what it owes you. The world is full of them, writers that is, and chances are you and me will just be like all the other cats busted up on the highway to the New York Times. But don't despair, pay your bills, don't raise asshole kids and maybe, just maybe, you can be in the right place at the right time and do some work that is at the very least intellectually stimulating/satisfying to you and means something once or twice. Something to look back on and really be proud of.

Eric Hinske ain't Alex Rodriguez, never has been and never will be. Hinske is slow, possesses questionable fielding skills and can't hit a 12-6 curve ball to save his goddamn life. But he does have something A-Rod doesn't have. A massive ego and an inferiority complex that makes him think he needs steroids to enhance his already ridiculous God-given ability. Oh, and a World Series ring thanks to the important players on the Red Sox.

See, I can't even get through a post on my other blog without pimping my team and slamming the Yankees. So be it.